Honor to us all
by xRaianx
Summary: The kami must have thought they would enjoy this twisted joke of theirs, but she would show them, she would show everyone that she could do this. Kagome, a poor village girl, must now adapt to the world of royalty something she never thought could be possible. She will find out that life isn't like all the stories her mother told her... and yet some are.


**Don't own Inuyasha**

 **This came to me while I was at working singing a song from "Mulan", I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

It was a mistake… it wasn't possible they could confuse her for another, not with what happened that day, no one could switch her low born status with a girl higher in cast no matter what they tried. So it was obvious the young man sent to relay the message had taken a wrong turn with no intention of coming to this lowly dwelling; and judging by the way his eyes roamed the small one room hut with clear distaste for both it and those present he too had hoped he had made a mistake as well.

A frown marred his features when he looked down at his once pristine boots now covered in a thin layer of dirt from the floor; he raised his head again to address those in the hut, if one could even call it that, once more, "I will return at dawn for the girl." The messenger left quickly after that intending to find a more suitable place to stay the night while waiting to retrieve the girl the next morning, leaving no room to question if he had made a mistake.

"Hn… it would seem my dear niece is of some use after all, I guess I will have to relay the news to Hiroshi for they wouldn't want a tainted bride… surely they won't pay much for one," the man that had been sitting against the hut wall since the messenger arrived stood, a bit unsteady on his feet, and stumbled out the reed flap covering the hut entryway.

The other three people tensed upon his original movement but relaxed when he left, they knew where he was going but for how long he would be there was a mystery; but anytime he was away was good. "Kagome, how did this happen? Wasn't the match maker furious with you?" The older woman in the hut was confused yet kind in her questioning of the younger girl.

"I don't know Momma, I thought I had failed," tears had begun to well up in the young girl's eyes again as she replayed that disastrous day in her mind.

* * *

 _Fourteen days ago..._

It was that time of season again after the winter snow melted to spring flowers, all young women of the village of proper age were to visit the match maker to find a husband to wed. It was a very big celebration in the village typically lasting several days due to the size of the town and how many girls would be tested before the match maker. The tests themselves were simple enough but the outcome is what was stressful, one wrong move or answer to a question could result in a terrible match or worse no match at all. If a girl failed the tests she would bring dishonor to her own family and the girl would likely be banished or be sold to the _Yukaku_ ; neither option was suitable for young girls and to avoid this and to regain their family's honor some would commit seppuku rather than live out their lives as _yujo_.

Kagome's time with the match maker had been a fortnight ago, her small section of the village had been given notice a few days before to give those that would be presenting to the match maker time to prepare their daughters. Many factors were against Kagome from the start, the first being her father had died many years before and her mother had been an orphan from a young age herself. Her parents had found each other without the match maker's help but Kagome's grandfather refused to allow his eldest son to marry a dowerless girl; Kagome's father was strong willed and secretly took Kagome's mother as his bride. Needless to say his family was furious when they found her with child and refusing to be village gossip and publicly shamed they took the woman and babe into their home.

When Kagome was a little girl and her mother had just given birth to her brother her father became ill and died a short time later; her mother feared her father-in-law would banish her and her children. The old man thought about it, having two women would be of no use to him but the infant boy could bring in a bit of money to the family when he came of age and took a wife. But that would be sometime from now and he couldn't have the woman living under his roof not be married; an unmarried woman, even a widow, living with men that were not blood, even if it was her husband's family, was shameful and so Kagome's grandfather forced her mother and uncle to marry… it was only about a year after that the old man died living all their meager belongings to her uncle.

And that was the second factor of Kagome's bad luck, though her Uncle possessed everything her family was still poor, one of the poorest in the village. For generations her family had lived in the farming district of the town, the local daimyo had dished out plots of land for rent to lower cast families with an exorbitant amount of tax on top; some of the families prospered and where able to buy out the daimyo and sell the land as tax holders themselves. Kagome's family plot however was barren, it barely grew anything and they were heavily indebted to the lord with no way of paying him back really. What little money they had from their crops went to her uncle as heir, but he would always spend it on cheap alcohol and even cheaper women. Money was pretty much everything in their village as bartering was dying out, not that they had much to trade anyway, and the match maker charged very high prices for her services so Kagome was certain she would never see her.

And the biggest thing that went against Kagome was her temper, she was as stubborn as her father, maybe even more so, in an era where women were meant to be neither seen nor heard. As a small child she would question everything and while her father thought it endearing her grandfather and uncle did not; after her father passed away anytime she questioned something or spoke out of turn her uncle would beat her and it only got worse when he was drunk. So she learned quickly to hold her tongue while he was around but she would find herself unable to hold back while in his absence. So these reasons alone should have been enough to keep Kagome from seeing the match maker that day and yet somehow she was there with several other girls from her district of the village.

* * *

Kagome tried to stay behind the others that were milling around the court yard waiting for the match maker to come out and call the first girl in. She had her head bowed, trying to not draw attention to herself, she didn't have any friends and she grew tired of these girls taunts long ago. Looking through the curtain of her thick bangs Kagome observed the girls from head to toe, most of them came from farming families like her own but it was clear they were doing much better off.

They all wore brightly colored kimonos, some more older than others judging by the restitching Kagome could see done on them, but none the less they were bright and spoke of spring and new beginnings. The other smaller group of girls standing farther away were obviously from merchant families, their kimonos were two layered and some even had cranes or koi scattered about the fabric; unlike the farmers' daughters who were all wearing their hair in simple buns these girls had elaborate hair styles that must have come from Edo because Kagome had never seen anyone in the village wear it like that.

Seeing all these beautiful women made Kagome want to farther curl into herself, she knew the match maker would simply take one look at her compared to the others and she would deem her unfit to marry, why would she tie a poor innocent man to someone like her who came from nothing and has nothing to offer a marriage.

' _Now dear niece, I wouldn't say you have nothing of value to a marriage.'_ Her uncle's sinister voice rang through her head making her flinch, he had never said those words exactly to her but he had implied such things on several occasions since she had begun to develop into a young woman; she had even overheard him bragging to some of his buddies about it, one of them being the owner of the village's Yukaku, Hiroshi. That man gave Kagome the creeps and not just because of his line of business, whenever she caught him staring at her it was with this predatory like gaze that made her skin crawl. Over the last few weeks Hiroshi had been hanging around their hut talking with Kagome's uncle, she feared the two were making some sort of deal that involved her; her mother must have thought the same thing because a few days later when the messenger came to the door with the news that their district was next to see the match maker her mother scrambled to get Kagome ready.

Kagome was furious her mother was wasting money to pay this woman to find her a husband, it could have been put towards something more beneficial to the family since she already knew this was a lost cause. Her status was too low to be of any good to her family plus she had no dowry so even if she was matched with a man he would refuse her simply for that.

Kagome looked down at her own attire and frowned when she realized she was wrinkling her kimono, it wasn't brightly colored or made of expensive fabric like the other girls in the court yard; at one time it was white but now was a worn beige due to age rather than dye. She had to be very careful when putting it on and couldn't move much once it was in place or risk the fabric tearing, just glancing at it she could see where it had been restitched several times and after she was finished using it it would need to be fixed again; some time ago the obi was either lost or sold so her mother had found a strip of cloth close in color to tie around her waist and keep the garment shut. At one time the outfit was probably a beautiful wedding kimono that her grandmother or even great grandmother wore for their weddings, Kagome was surprised that her mother had managed to keep it hidden away from her uncle all this time since most of their other possessions he had already sold off; maybe the garment wasn't of much value even as scrapes… but right now it was the prettiest thing to ever be in her possession.

Kagome had been examining the kimono, she could see spots that were fraying again and would need some touch ups when she got home, when the whispers among the crowd grew quiet; looking up she expected to see the elderly match maker standing at the entrance of her home but the shoji was still closed and everyone's gaze was instead focused on the courtyard entrance.

A woman, or what Kagome thought was a woman but it could in fact be a kami she wasn't certain, had just entered the yard surrounded by several guards with emblems of the village's daimyo sewn onto their _happi_. The guards began clearing a path, not that it was needed since everyone that was remotely close enough scurried out of the way, straight to the match maker's door; the woman while passing the crowd didn't even bother to look at anyone in the area knowing no one could compare to her so why bother wasting her time. And she would be right to, no one in the yard not even the richest merchant's daughter here could be compared on equal grounds in terms of wealth and beauty to this woman… so just who was she? Kagome didn't go into the village, often spending most of her time in the fields working, so she had no clue who this woman was.

Once the woman gracefully made her way to the steps leading up to the house that was the village's match maker, one of the guards went ahead and, without even knocking, opened the door allowing the woman to enter. When she was inside and the guards slipped in as well and the door closed again the once soft whispers from the girls and their mothers who were present for the event grew into a dull roar over what just happened.

"I wonder why lady Kikyo would be seeing the match maker, surely she would already be betrothed to a neighboring lord's son… or a lord themself."

"You didn't hear?" A mother of one of the merchant girls approached a group of farmers' wives, the twisted smirk on her face made her look even more unpleasant to be around. "The Shogun's second son has returned from battle and will be taking a wife, all the local daimyo are sending their daughters as potential bridal candidates."

Kagome now understood who the beautiful woman was and why she was here, lady Kikyo was daimyo Akira's oldest daughter; it is most likely he broke off her betrothal to another daimyo's family to put her in the running for the Shogun's son, it would bump her and her family up in social class not to mention she would be directly related to the ruling emperor through marriage; this outcome could be beneficial to many people including Kagome's own family. If lady Kikyo were to be chosen the Shogun would give a large amount of aid and more land to the daimyo which would put him in a good mood and in turn maybe he would be more lax on debts he held from farming families like her own; Kagome sent a silent prayer to the kami wishing the lady good luck and a happy outcome.

* * *

It wasn't until mid-day that the shoji opened again and an old woman came out instead of the young lady and her guards, apparently they left through another exit from the home so they wouldn't be bothered by those outside, but seeing the old woman caused everyone to jump to attention and rush into even lines of four with their heads bowed in front of her. Doing this forced Kagome out of the shadows as she stood in the very back row being the last person in line, already she could hear the snickers and jabs from the mothers standing behind her.

"Is that Hana's daughter, I'm surprised they could pay the matching price."

"Look at the rag she's wearing, I'm shocked it hasn't fallen apart at her feet."

"I thought she was sold to the Yukaku years ago when her father died, one less mouth to feed would have been the smarter option."

Kagome tried to ignore their hurtful words which only grew louder once the girls around her realized she was there as well but it was near impossible; instead she tried to focus on her name being called from the match maker. Though they claimed your name was drawn at random so you could not prepare for when it was your turn, Kagome knew that was in fact not true, the list was drawn up by who paid the most to get in here; so Kagome knew she was most likely on the bottom with barely making the matching price.

Hours later, it was close to dusk at this point, the shoji opened and it was finally her turn; it had to be since no one else was in the court yard. Every girl that was called in before her must have left the same way lady Kikyo had because Kagome never saw them come out and the m0thers' of the girls disappeared as soon as their daughters went inside so now Kagome stood alone; her mother had to tend the field since she would be gone most of the day so Kagome had no one to wait with her.

But it was okay, she wouldn't have wanted her mother to spend all day standing outside when she had more important things to take care of like her younger brother. Souta was normally a rather energetic child but the other night after their uncle returned home and found out that their mother had been hiding money from him which she was going to use to pay the match maker he became enraged, instead of hurting their mother like he planned Souta had gotten in the way and took a brutal kick to the stomach. Seeing her brother fall limp to the floor Kagome grabbed the wore metal pot they used for cooking and cracked the man over the head, it wasn't enough to kill him but he was knocked unconscious until the next morning when he woke up to a massive headache and hair coated with blood. Hana was able to save her daughter's life by lying and telling him he had passed out on the way home and must have hit his head on a rock; it was an easy enough tale to weave since he had done it before and mother and daughter had to drag him back to the hut, so he believe them and luckily couldn't remember anything at all from the previous night; he didn't even question why Souta was in bed the next few days. Souta had a very bad bruise on his stomach and he couldn't move for much of that first day after, but he was recovering slowly and would be alright after a few more days rest; this meant that Hana was the only one able to care for the fields today and couldn't be with Kagome.

"Oh… you're still here, I thought you would have left long ago," the raspy voice of the match maker made Kagome cringe; it was clear that old woman was not happy to see her which wasn't surprising given that she could barely pay the matching price. The amount alone to see this woman was greater than probably selling crops for three seasons and yet most families dished out far more for their daughter's to be matched to good husbands; the higher the amount the more likely one could be match above their current cast and the quicker through the process you want.

"Well come on girl, I don't have all day!" The match maker snapped before going back into her home, Kagome held her tongue as to not lash out with a snotty remark about how she wasted a whole day out here instead of where she could be more useful to her family and quickly jogged up the steps into the darker and cooler front room of the old woman's home.

Kagome knew it wasn't proper to look around, a young woman should always keep her head down and eyes trained on the floor, but she couldn't help but gaze at the room's interior; there were so many beautiful items that she had never before seen and she was curious as to their purpose. So caught up in staring at an intricate tapestry hanging on the far side of the room Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin when the old woman cleared her throat not happy having to gain Kagome's attention this way.

Kagome's eyes darted to the match maker to see she was holding a blank scroll in her hands before looking back down to the floor her cheeks aflame in embarrassment at being caught. A high pitched huff left the old woman's tightly sealed lips and Kagome could hear the sloshing of ink being swirled around in the pot which caused her to cringe; apparently the test had already started and she wasn't doing very well.

Her first instinct was to apologize for being rude but she had to clamp that down since she knew she wasn't supposed to talk unless spoken to. She could feel the old woman's stare digging into her as she began circling Kagome, this was the first assessment, the match maker took physical evaluation of her; this normally consisted of her looks, how she was dressed, and body type. Kagome knew she wasn't a radiant beauty, most of the time she was knee deep in mud working in the fields with dirt smudges all over her face and a couple of twigs in her hair; her skin was also darker than most due to being outside more than others her age which wasn't a quality men were happy with.

Men in the village preferred the fairer skin, soft hands, and plump thighs of women born into higher class families, they were beautiful yes and their dowries were very much desired; Kagome's skin was tan and dried out from the sun beating down on her all day, her hands were cracked and calloused from tending fields and she was very skinny from barely having food to eat.

Without moving her head Kagome watched the old woman circle her a few times, the little clicks of her tongue and shakes of her head while she scribbled words on to the scroll told Kagome she wasn't doing well already.

"Too skinny, you not be able to bare strong sons and where would that put your husband's family? And look at this filth you dress in," the match maker tugged on the kimono causing the fabric to tear, "You not know how to sow, surely your mother teach you… you not smart to learn?" The woman tapped Kagome on the head with the wood stick that made the handle of the brush she was writing with causing Kagome to flinch not expecting the hit.

"I am smart," Kagome let the retort slip from her mouth without thinking.

"You talk back! Young lady never talk back, never argue with husband, you dishonor him by no showing proper respect," the old woman picked up a walking stick that was close to the table and smacked Kagome in the side with it in reprimand for speaking out of turn. In her old age the hit itself wasn't too hard, however where it connected on Kagome's body was an area that was still recovering from one of her uncle's beatings a few days prior so the pain shot down her legs causing her to collapse and cry out."Hm, seem mother no teach you proper respect either… but that no surprise since she had no respect herself."

Kagome tensed at the match maker's words, it was no secret in the village that most of the people looked down upon her mother. With the death of her parents at such a young age, and no family member willing to take her in, many believed Hana had a dark cloud following her; that was one of the reasons Kagome's father's family didn't want her, they feared the curse would enter their home causing bad luck. Of course Kagome's father didn't believe that and took Hana as his wife and for a few short years after that some thought maybe the curse had been lifted; but then Kagome's father and grandfather died within a year of each other and the village blamed Hana for their deaths. The town had gone so far as to try and kick them all out not wanting the curse to spread to neighboring homes and fields but Kagome's uncle had fought back refusing to leave; so now they are just mostly ostracized from the village, everyone avoids them or just ignores their presence while openly talking about them.

Kagome has had to deal with this her whole entire life and now hearing this old woman speak ill of her mother, whom she didn't even know, was the last straw for her, "Shut up."

"What you say?" The match maker was still in mid rant about how her mother dishonored the village by allowing the dark cloud to still loom overhead when she heard Kagome mumble something under her breath from her position still sitting on the floor; she was about to come over and smack Kagome again for being rude but was thrown off balance when the younger girl suddenly shot up and turned to face her.

"I said shut up!"

Not expecting to be yelled at, since she was the one that did that, the match maker took a step back and tripped over the scroll she originally had in her hand while administering the test; since she was so short to begin with taking the tumble didn't affect her at all, she was more shocked by the outburst than anything else.

Kagome's first gut reaction was to reach out and try to help when she saw the elderly woman start to go down, but then she drew back her hands remembering how mean this woman had been to her, "You know nothing of my mother, my mother would help anyone in this village if they asked for it without expecting anything in return; my mother gave everything to my family even though they didn't want her, she always thinks of my brother and me before herself. She is the kindest person in this town and all everyone does is talk badly about her when you don't even know her, so why don't you keep your comments to yourself you… you old hag!" Kagome didn't have to look at the match maker to know she failed the test, she was certain no one ever back talked the way she just had much less call her a hag.

The shocked expression quickly twisted into an angry scowl as the match maker stood once more, "How dare you, you will never bring honor to your family, you will never be a bride! Leave my home and know that the entire village will know of the dishonor you have caused this day!"

* * *

 _Present day..._

The old woman's words still rang out in Kagome's mind nearly two weeks after it all happened, when she had returned home that night she told her mother everything with tears streaming down her face; she apologized for having wasted the only money they had because she couldn't keep her mouth shut and pass the test. Her mother of course didn't blame her at all, she wouldn't be her father's daughter if she let others just walk all over her; he always encouraged her to speak her mind which at times wasn't always a good thing.

"Who cares how it happened, it did and Kagome is getting out of here!" Souta couldn't sit still anymore, he seemed to be the most excited about what transpired in the hut; he could see the doubt in both his mother and sister's faces that this was actually happening, they both tended to try and explain away things that could make their lives better, but he wanted them to accept this.

Hana looked to her little boy with a soft smile, despite the hardships he's endured in his short life he was still so optimistic which she was glad for; being the young man in the family was hard for him, he wanted to stand up to his uncle when the older man loses his temper but there is only so much he can do.

"Souta, I doubt the messenger knew where he was, he probably meant to deliver that news to someone else," Kagome refused to be happy with this, these types of things just don't happen to people like them.

"Don't say that Kagome, he knew your name so how could he possibly mix you up with someone else."

Hana could see Souta was getting quick to anger, another trait both her children picked up from her late husband, and quickly tried to defuse the fight from breaking out between them and risk her current husband walking in at any minute, "Souta, Kagome stop… it's time for bed, we need to get up early tomorrow because I doubt the messenger will wait long."

There was a lot to do in the morning, Hana would have to get her daughter up before sunrise and to the river to wash up, she would also have to find something suitable for the young woman to wear on the journey. She had to keep making a chore list in her head as she settled down herself for the night to keep from getting too excited, she had to keep her emotions in check just in case this all was a mistake and the young messenger did not return as he said he would; still… it was hard to keep the excitement at bay for what the message he brought meant for her daughter, Hana barely got any sleep that evening as his announcement kept repeating in her head.

' _I have been sent by his majesty to inform the members of this household that your daughter, Kagome, has been chosen to ascend to the house of Taisho as the wife of the second son to the lord Shogun.'_

* * *

 **Note: Hey everyone, I'm back from nearly a year hiatus with a new story, I know a lot of people have been wondering what happened to me: Long story short life has had me busy, new job, new relationship, and a move that is still going on. For those that are waiting for 'Seeking the Future' I have the next chapter half written but I just can't seem to get it all out on paper... and I needed something else to distract me and get the juices reflowing for that story so here this one is. I have a few chapters written, and I don't intend for it to be very long, both in chapters and length of chapters.**

Some Terms:  
 **Yukaku** \- is actually what the 'Red light distracts' in Japan were called in Feudal times. I'm using the term slightly different for this story, instead of it beginning for a whole district in a large town like Edo, in small villages like the one Kagome is from in the story a yukaku is for a single brothel.

 **Yoji** \- is a prostitute, lady of the night, that works in a Yukaku.

 **Happi** \- From what I read about it they are coats over haori that men wear. I couldn't find the clothes I was looking for but I wanted something like the outfit that Kohaku wears, civilian clothes, in the anime.

 **I'm hoping to have a second chapter up soon, so let me know what you think!**


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